These past many months have been interesting, to say the least. I am very much a "people person" who enjoys working with other people, especially face to face. Instead, I have been working mostly from home since March, 2020. I feel blessed to have been able to continue working safely and be working with so many amazing staff, faculty and students. I know many people lost their jobs, are risking themselves to help others in their jobs, and are trying to teach their children, too. I admire this level of determination and commitment! I also want to provide a stable and supportive environment in my classes to help students succeed during these stressful times.
I wanted to share a little more about me. I have more than 30 years of public health, education, and research experience and have degrees in Public Health (PhD), Epidemiology (MPH), Education (MEd) and Psychology (BA) with minors in Geology, Physical Education and Rehabilitation Counseling - OK it took me a while to find out what I wanted to do for a living - ha! I have published several journal articles, presented many conference papers and posters, and have been recognized nationally for my work in Maternal & Child Health Epidemiology.
On a more personal note, the Tampa Bay area has been my home for most of my life, volunteer my time working with a preschool, Healthy Start and with multiple breast cancer programs. I also enjoy lapidary, canoeing, and biking. My greatest love is my family - most of whom (4 generations back) were/are public servants such as police, fire fighters, paramedics, nurses, emergency responders, teachers (including one teaching deaf/hearing impaired children where Ray Charles went to school), military, some work in the county court house, and my youngest niece just past her medical boards - she is the next Dr. Shellhorn (some might say a "real" doctor). What I have learned over the years and with these role models is that it takes a special person to put others first - and my students are no different as they, too, are special as they working toward this type of admirable career.
Finally, I want to share my teaching philosophy: "I believe teaching should engage students, utilizing multiple learning channels, and including various learning activities that ultimately challenge students to synthesize the information so that it may be retained and used in the future. Because people learn in different ways and at different rates, it is important to provide a course structure that attempts to meet the needs of all students without disengaging students at the different levels. I believe this can be accomplished by providing a core curriculum including independent learning activities, class/group learning, optional supplemental activities for those needing additional examples, and accessible office (or phone/email/web-based) time for students to receive individual assistance." I have high expectations, give a lot of feedback, and am there to help.
